Taking Care Of It
by Lemonly
Summary: Bay will do whatever it takes to help Toby.  Eventual Bay/Wilkie
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Bay is an All-Star Softball player. Wilkie doesn't owe anybody money.**

Bay knocked harshly then waited impatiently for the occupant of the room to open the door.

"Bay Kennish, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Wilkie drawled with a smirk, leaning against his door frame.

"It's about Toby." Bay stated.

Wilkie looked quickly down the hall before pulling Bay into the room.

"What about Toby?"

"How much does he owe you?" Bay fixed him with her 'you-better-tell-me-the-truth' look that always got her the information she was looking for.

"Let's just say a lot."

"Is there anything I can do to help him?"

"I don't think so, Bay."

"Please, I'll do anything. He's my brother, he's selling all of his guitars and amps and I barely managed to talk him out of selling the record collection, I will do anything in my power to help him. You're his best friend, you know how much that stuff means to him." Bay's eyes shone with a fierce fire, but tears had begun welling up in them as she whispered, "Please."

"Well…no, never mind." Wilkie shook his head, trying to shake the idea from his head.

"What?"

"You would really do anything?" Wilkie fixed her with an intense look.

"Yes; he's my brother and while he made a few stupid choices, it's my responsibility to help him out as much as I can."

"Go out with me."

"What?"

"Be my girl, until I have spent as much as Toby owes me on you. If you say 'yes', his debt disappears."

"That's-" Bay began before she looked down at the locket she was wearing, the one Toby gave her when she turned ten. Still looking down, she whispered, "Okay."

"Okay."

Wilkie held out his hand with a smirk and Bay placed hers in it. Wilkie brought her hand up to his lips and lightly kissed it.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at 8."

Bay smiled tightly before leaving his room and walking out of the house and getting into her car, making a stop at the pawn shop on the way home. When she got back to her house, she saw Toby loading up more of his guitars, included his favorite one: lime green and signed by every musical artist he ever met, there were a lot of them. She quickly got out and ran over to him, grabbing the instrument out of his hands.

"Bay!" He yelled, anger filling his eyes.

"You don't have to worry about your debt anymore." Bay walked back to her car and opened the back door and trunk, revealing the items he had sold.

"What are you talking about?"

"I talked to Wilkie, your debt's disappeared." With that, Bay walked back into the house and up to her room, letting the tears fall only after the door was closed firmly behind her.

Katherine and Regina shared a glance as Bay walked past them, stopping their argument in mid-sentence upon seeing her distraught expression. They silently agreed that they would both go after her and followed Bay up the stairs. As Katherine reached for the door knob, she and Regina were both surprised to barely make out Daphne's voice. Shrugging, they made their way back down stairs, agreeing to talk to Bay later; if that didn't work, they would talk to Daphne.

Daphne had been walking down the stairs when Bay tore past her. Normally, she wouldn't blink an eye at that, but she knew that Bay was going to try to talk to Wilkie earlier so she turned around and ran after Bay. She got to Bay's room in time to have the door slam in her face. Daphne didn't let it detour her, she opened the door and stepped into the room and closed the door gently behind her.

"Hey," she greeted softly, standing hesitantly by the door.

"Hey," Bay's sad voice was barely audible.

Daphne sighed and began to walk over to Bay slowly.

"What happened?"

"I got Wilkie to call off all of Toby's debt and managed to get all of Toby's stuff back."

"That's good; but, what happened?"

Bay's tears started all over again, "I have to be Wilkie's 'girl' until he spends as much as Toby owes him on me. But the only thing that really matters is that he called the debt off."

Daphne didn't know what to say, so she just hugged Bay tightly and let the dark-haired girl cry on her shoulder. After another minute, Bay calmed down and pulled back so Daphne could see her.

"Toby can't know about this arrangement."

"Okay."

Daphne's heart broke for the girl sitting next to her. She had just lost Ty to the Army, both agreeing to take a break until he was out, and now she was being forced to be with her older brother's best friend. Daphne pulled Bay to her again, wrapping her arms around her in a comforting manner.

Toby walked into his dad's study, check in hand.

"Hey son." John greeted, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Toby looked down, "I just wanted to give you this. I hope it helps to make up for how much I've borrowed from you. It's the money I got from selling my stuff."

"Is this left over?"

"No, I don't know the details but Bay said she took care of it. I got a confirmation text shortly after. Somehow, Bay got all of my stuff back, too."

"You're lucky you have such a good sister."

"Yeah, I owe her big for this."

"She won't make you pay up, though. When it comes to helping you when you really need it, Bay always comes though and only accepts a 'thank you', nothing more."

"Yeah, and it surprises a hell of a lot of people."

The two men laughed before leaving the room to go down to dinner.

"Where's Bay?" Regina asked as Daphne walked into the room.

"She wasn't hungry. She said she was going out to the batting cage." Daphne replied, sitting down and placing her napkin across her lap.

The statement was confirmed as the '_ping' _of a metal bat hitting a softball floated through the open windows.

What-?" Katherine began to say but stopped when Daphne shook her head. She nodded and Regina signed "we'll talk later, the three of us."

Dinner continued with the sounds of forks scraping the plates and the sound of Bay's batting. Occasionally, someone tried to say something but the conversation only last about three minutes. After what seemed like forever, dinner ended and everyone brought their dishes to the sink and Toby and Daphne went outside. As they closed the door behind them, Emmett pulled up; his motorcycle was followed by Wilkie's brand new car. Daphne sent Wilkie a small glare and grabbed Emmett, pulling him to the guest house, walking as fast as she could

"What's going on?" Emmett signed, confused by Daphne's behavior.

"Bay went to talk to Wilkie about Toby today." Daphne signed in response, looking down, "She has to be 'his girl' know until he spends as much on Bay as Toby owes him."

"She agreed to that?" Emmett looked shocked.

"He's her brother; she said that she would do whatever it takes to help him."

"How is she?"

"Not good. I feel so bad for her. I mean, she and Ty _just_ broke up and she loved him. Now she has to be with Wilkie and I want to do something to make her feel better but I don't know what."

"I think the best we can do is be there for her."

"Toby, or anyone for that matter, can't know this is because of his debt."

"Okay."

Emmett hugged his best friend, agreeing to help be there for Bay.

"Hey." Toby greeted as Wilkie stepped out of his car, confused by the way Daphne was acting.

"Hey." Wilkie smirked back.

"Thanks for calling it off. What made you do it?"

"Let's just say, your sister is very good with words."

"What'd she say?"

"That's between us."

Toby gave him a bewildered look before shrugging and leading the way up to the batting cage. No matter how many times Wilkie had seen her in action, she still managed to surprise him. The elegance with which she swung the bat, her form and concentration not usually seen until much later in life, and even then mostly by the girls playing in the Olympics, was clear to anyone with a basic understanding of the game.

"She's so going to be on the national team." Wilkie muttered to his best friend.

"Yep, she is; and then mom can finally have the 'in your face' moment that she's wanted to have since Bay first started playing the game and the other moms kept saying that she cared to much about the game for it to be good for her 'future'." Toby nodded.

"I can't believe that people around here still say things like that. I mean, everyone's known Bay Kennish was going to be a softball star since third grade when she threw her first no-hitter at her teams opening day game."

"She's the best pitcher in the state and her record started earlier than most." Toby got the faraway look on his face every time he went to that place where his memories ran rampant, "I'm so proud of her."

"You should be, she's pretty amazing."

"The best in the state," Toby's faraway look returning to normal when he turned to Wilkie, "by the way, what are you doing here?"

"I just came to make sure Bay remembered that we were working on that project together tomorrow." Wilkie replied smoothly.

"A text would be better; she'll most likely be out here for a while. I'll remind her for you."

"Thanks."

With that, Wilkie clapped Toby on the shoulder and walked back down to his car.


	2. Chapter 2

True to his word, Wilkie showed up at the Kennish's house at 8 o'clock sharp. He went up to the door and knocked politely, the opposite of what he usually did.

"Wilkie?" Katherine asked, amazed that her son's best friend actually knocked.

"Good evening, Mrs. Kennish." He replied politely.

"How many times have I told you, Wilkie? Call me Katherine. And you know you can just walk in."

"I know, but tonight's kind of different."

"And why would that be?"

"Well, I'm taking Bay out tonight. Don't worry, I'll have her back by midnight, or earlier if you want."

"Come in, I'm sure she'll be down in a minute."

Katherine gestured for Wilkie to take a seat in the living room before sitting down across from him.

"So, when did this start?" she asked.

"When did what start?"

"You and Bay."

"Oh, we're just celebrating. We got the highest score in the class on our project, the video on we were working on last week."

"Well, congratulations." Katherine smiled, before her eyes moved to the door way, "Bay, honey, you look incredible."

Wilkie turned and had to forcibly keep his draw from dropping. Bay stood in a short, tight black dress with matching heels. She kept her make-up natural and her hair down. She looked beautiful. He quickly got to his feet and walked over to her.

"Shall we go?"

"Go where?" Toby asked, walking over to them.

"Celebratory dinner, of course." Wilkie replied, feeling slightly uneasy as Toby fixed him with a look that said he knew that wasn't the whole truth. After a minute, Wilkie turned back toward Bay and held out his arm, "Shall we?"

Bay nodded and looped her arm through Wilkie's, subtly avoiding Toby's gaze.

"You two have a good night!" Katherine called from the door.

When they got to his car, he opened the door for her with a smile.

"Where are we going?" Bay asked once Wilkie was in the car.

"Le Fou Frog, I know it's your favorite."

"Isn't that a little expensive? I mean, my family only goes there once a year."

"It isn't a problem. I told my dad I wanted to take you out and he said that he didn't care how much I spent."

As they pulled to a stop in front of the restaurant, a valet opened Bay's door and took the key from Wilkie and the two walked in. They were, surprisingly, immediately seated. As they sat down, Bay picked up her menu, shooting Wilkie a questioning look.

"I called ahead." He replied.

"Right…" Bay replied disbelievingly. Her family always called in and only after the hostess realized he was _the_ John Kennish did they get seated right away.

"I may have dropped our last names."

"That's what I thought." Bay smiled behind her menu.

Ten minutes later, the waitress came over.

"Are you two ready?" she asked, giving Wilkie a once over and flirty smile.

"Yes, we are." Bay replied, earning herself a slight glare from the waitress.

"Okay," the waitress pulled out her pad and looked back at Wilkie.

"We're going to start with an order of _Coquilles St. Jacques*_ and two bowls of _Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee**_." Wilkie looked over at Bay and nodded.

"The _Queue de Hommard Vanille et Champagne***_." Bay read, folding her menu and handing it to the waitress.

"And I'll have the _Filet Le Fou****_. And the selection of sparkling juices, two glasses." Wilkie repeated Bay's action and turned his full attention back to the dark haired girl across from him.

"So, when's your next game?"

"It's tomorrow. I'm hoping to break my seasonal records this year." Bay replied as the waitress returned with four bottles containing their different sparkling juices.

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it."

"Is this a special date?" the waitress inquired as she set the bottles and wine glasses down.

"You could say that; it's our first." Wilkie replied, smiling at Bay.

"Wow, this place isn't usually a first date place…"the waitress muttered before walking away, returning with the appetizer shortly after.

"Where is the game?" Wilkie turned back to Bay after shortly thanking the waitress.

"It's at the Buckner field at noon. You don't have to come, Toby's the only that going to be there."

"You're dad's not going!" Wilkie was shocked; Mr. Kennish always came to her games.

"No, he's too busy being Daphne's real dad than the dad who raised me." Bay looked away, stabbing a scallop with her fork.

"I'm sorry." Wilkie reached for her hand.

"I don't need, or want, sympathy."

"What do you want then?"

"I just want to not be invisible in my own house. All my parents care about now is Daphne. My dad actually brushed me aside when I asked him to play catcher for me. He has never done that before; he never passes up a chance to help me with my pitching. My mom didn't even humor me by pretending to listen to me when I told her about how a selection of my paintings are going to be put up in a gallery on the Plaza. I can understand that they want to get to know Daphne, but they don't have to ignore me. When I tried to talk to Daphne she basically said that I wasn't trying with Regina, but she was wrong. I try to talk to Regina, I really do, but she just doesn't seem to want to get to know me. I just wish I had someone other than Toby on my side."

"You do; you have me."

Bay smiled at Wilkie as the waitress placed their main course in front of them. Bay glared at the waitress once more as she gave Wilkie a flirty look once again. When she saw that Wilkie's eye never left Bay, she glared at the girl before leaving.

"She is so flushing her tip down the drain." Bay muttered. After a minute, she looked over at Wilkie, "Why?"

"Because you're the best in the state, you deserve to have at least two people at your games." Wilkie laughed.

"What? No, not that, why this arrangement?"

"Because I've liked you for a while, but you were always unavailable. I figured that this was my chance to prove to you that I'm worthy of you; that while I may not be the perfect boyfriend to my past girlfriends, I will strive to be the perfect boyfriend for you, because you deserve it. I wanted to know what it would be like to be your guy, be someone you know you can trust."

"I was not expecting that answer from you."

"What? Were you expecting something like, 'I want to get in your pants'?"

"Actually, yes, I was expecting just that answer." Bay laughed, hiding her shock.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you." Wilkie smiled back.

As the meal went on, they talked about anything that came to mind, leaving with smiles.

When Wilkie pulled into the Kennish's drive-way, Bay turned to Wilkie, "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm glad to see that we can at least be friends during this."

"I'm happy about that, too."

"So, I'll see you at your game tomorrow; I'll be the one next to your brother holding a ginormous sign with your name on it." Wilkie smiled.

"Okay," Bay laughed, "I'll be the one on the pitcher's mound wowing the crowd with my awe-inspiring pitching skills."

With that Bay gave him one last smile and kissed his cheek before getting out of the car. Wilkie brought his hand up to his cheek for a moment before turning around in the driveway and leaving the house, shooting Toby a text that read, "Meet me at my house at nine. We have a sign to make."


	3. Chapter 3

Bay arrived at the field early with Clover, who was her best friend and catcher, as was their special tradition before games. It was at this time that the girls stretched and did a slower warm-up so they could be ready to do their actual warm-up when the rest of the team got there.

"So," Clover drew out, as the two girls sat down across from each other and began stretching, "you have strategically avoided talking about when I brought it up subtly, so I'm going to just come out and say it: What is going on with you and Wilkie?"

"What does everyone _say_ is going on with me and Wilkie?" Bay asked, giving her best friend a coy look.

"That you finally woke up and smelled the hottie. That you finally realized that he's more than your best friend." Clover fixed Bay with a meaningful look before continuing, "You finally realized that your brother's best friend is head over heels for you and you feel the same."

"It's nothing like that." Bay replied, not exactly looking her best friend in the eye, giving away the fact that she wasn't exactly telling the truth.

"Oh, really?" Clover raised an eyebrow, "Then why did you chose him to be your first?"

"Because I was hurt, and scared, and he was there, and he was sweet, and caring, and exactly what I needed at the time, and things got carried away." Bay replied, her voice rough with emotion.

"What happened that night?" Clover asked in concern, only knowing that it had ended in Bay losing her virginity to Wilkie.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone." Bay fixed the other girl with a look.

"Promise." Clover held out her pinkie, linking it with Bay's and the girls did their special pinkie promise handshake they made up when they were three.

"At the costume party that night—"

"The one where I made you be 'sexy Tinkerbell'?"

"Yeah." Bay nodded before continuing, "Anyway, I had been dancing with Liam all night and, all of a sudden, he tried started to pull me toward the stairs. I asked where we were going and he replied that we were going to do what I'd 'been waiting for all night'. Wilkie heard that and pulled me away from him. After he thoroughly scared Liam, he said he would take me home. I didn't want to go home, so we went to the park. I started crying and he just held me, he was just there for me, and I kissed him. We went back to his car and it all escalated from there. It was so incredible and he was just so…"

"Not Wilkie?" Clover supplied, knowing that Wilkie was an entirely different person when it came to Bay.

"No, he was the _real_ Wilkie." Bay smiled softly, lost in the world of her memories.

"So, what's going on with you guys now?" Clover brought Bay back to the conversation.

"Toby owed him a lot of money. He was selling the things that mean so much to him and I had to stop it. I went over to Wilkie's house to see if there was something could do. We came to an agreement and _that_ is what is going on. I'm his girl until he spends as much on me as Toby owed him."

"So," Clover said slowly, "have you two had a repeat performance yet?"

"We've had various repeat performances, but not since we made the arrangement, no." Bay smiled slightly.

"What do you mean, 'various repeat performances'?" Clover asked, shocked that her best friend had not told her about these "repeat performances".

"Whenever one of us is feeling alone, unwanted, or just need to know someone cares about us, we call each other. It's been that way for the past few years…" Bay trailed off at the look of shock on Clover's face.

"And you didn't tell me?" Her best friend exclaimed.

"Sorry," Bay laughed, "You can't tell anyone anything I just told you, okay? _Especially_ Toby."

"So he doesn't know about the arrangement?"

"He doesn't even know we've slept together."

"I know you have _some_ feelings for each other; otherwise _you_ wouldn't have slept with him however many times you have, and _he_ wouldn't have come up with this arrangement." Clover placed a hand on Bay's knee, "Honey, that boy is _crazy_ about you and you're too afraid to admit that you feel the same because every guy you've ever let it has left you because of something, or someone else, or because they couldn't handle you. Wilkie is highly experienced with you and everything that comes with you. Whether you let him or not, he's your one; he's your one and only."

"You don't know that Clover; we're still in high school."

"But _you_ know it. You love him but you're too afraid to admit it yet." The girls stood up and Clover hugged her best friend tightly, whispering, "Let him all the in because no one deserves to be happy as much as you two do. You'll make it work and by the time this arrangement ends, you can't let him walk away; I _know_ he won't let you walk away."

"You're right." Bay smiled, pulling back and picking up her glove.

The girls made their way onto the field, switching the conversation to a playful banter as Bay began warming her arm up.

Looking at the bleachers, she saw Toby and Wilkie walking up, each holding two signs with her name on them and decorated in ways that showed that she really was the only person in her house with artistic talent. She smiled to herself as the rest of the team arrived and began the team's pre-game ritual.

Bay smiled as the batter swung and missed, gaining a third out and ending the game at 6-0 Buckner Hall. She barely had time to think before Clover was at the mound and congratulating her, the rest of the team joining her shortly after.

"Final Score Buckner Hall 6, Jackson Prep 0; Congratulations to Bay Kennish for her 20th career shut-out and 12th career home run. Thank you for coming out today and have a safe trip home." The scoreboard announcer said as everyone made their way to the parking lot or onto the field.

"Way to go, Bay!" Toby smiled, reaching his little sister, hugging her tightly, a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Yeah," Wilkie smiled, hugging her once Toby let go, "you rocked."

"Thanks, Wilkie." Bay smiled sweetly, pulling back.

As their eyes locked, they weren't the only ones who noticed that something in their dynamic had changed. Toby looked between them, suspicion coming into his eyes.

"So, Bay," Clover broke the moment, hoping it would cause Toby to forget whatever he was thinking, "I think a congratulatory party will be in order today. After all, you're big number 20, that's an unusual record for a high schooler."

"I don't know." Bay shrugged, a sad look in her eyes, "I hoping I would be celebrating this with my dad, that's all."

"My house, 8:00." Clover replied, "We'll cheer you right up."

Bay smiled and hugged her best friend, both girls laughing.

"Come on," Toby pulled his sister away, "mom's making a spread for lunch. Apparently, Daphne won her basketball game."

"I don't know." Bay said, "She made the lunch for Daphne, I wouldn't want to take the spot light off of her."

"But your record something to celebrate, too." Toby gave her a confused look.

"I'm getting a Clover party." Bay smiled, "but you go ahead. I'm gonna get my tape from coach to see what I can improve on for Thursday's game."

Before Toby could say anything, Bay was already walking off.

"I'll take home." Wilkie offered, causing Toby to turn to look at him.

Toby looked like he wanted to ask his friend something, but instead, shook his head and said, "Okay."

With that Toby made his way to his car and drove home.


End file.
